Rex Trulove
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote the first story of what was to become the Sherlock Holmes series as a short story. That probably isn’t all that remarkable, but I’m getting to the curious fact about Sherlock Holmes, as well as his sidekick, Watson, and another about the author.
First, in case there is anyone who doesn’t know who Sherlock Holmes was, he was a fictional character who was a super sleuth. Along with his partner, Doctor Thomas Watson, they solved seemingly unsolvable crimes in London. The author, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, was from Scotland and was a very prolific writer when he wasn’t seeing patients. You see, Sir Doyle was also a physician.
For those who know of the Sherlock Holmes mysteries, it might surprise you to learn that originally, the man’s name wasn’t Sherlock Holmes. In the first short story, Doyle penned him as Sherringford Holmes. His assistant wasn’t named Thomas Watson, either. Rather, Watson’s name was Ormand Sacker.
Never-the-less, the names were changed and Arthur Conan Doyle gained a great deal of notoriety from his stories. About Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, though, he was indeed knighted, but not because of the Sherlock Holmes stories. He was knighted because of the work he did in defense of British concentration camps during the Boer Wars.
Now you might know more about Sherlock Holmes than you did, even though it is elementary, dear people. Indubitably.
Very enlightening article. I have Doyle’s, The Complete Sherlock Holmes classics. Priceless!
It has been quite popular throughout the years.
Sherlock Holmes : How often have I said that when you have excluded the impossible whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.”
I’m so glad Doyle changed the names of his two main characters. Sherringford and Ormand??? That’s like naming James Bond “Hollingsworth Fitzroy”. The names just don’t roll off your tongue. LOL.
No, they would definitely not roll off the tongue. However, if he hadn’t renamed them, we wouldn’t know any different. 😀
I am glad he changed the names the others were not pronounceable or too memorable.
That might be why he renamed the characters, though I honestly don’t know why the names were changed. I don’t think he expected the stories to be as popular as they became, though.
I wrote an essay on Sir Arthur, several years ago and it was refreshing to catch up on the lesser known facts you wrote about him. I was particularly uplifted by his kind feelings towards my Boer forebears. Perhaps I might write about his account of the Boers seeing we are yet again under siege by the same “savage men” he describes in September of 1902 . Thanks Rex.
It is sort of sad that most people don’t know a great deal about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, except that he wrote Sherlock Holmes. Most people, particularly in the US, don’t realize that he was a Scot and a doctor. Even fewer knew that he had any part in the war. In fact, I’d guess that very few Americans even know about the Boer War. It would certainly be worth writing about, if for no other reason than to edify people.
Oh I love the Sherlock Holmes films, so reading this was interesting. There are lots of these films on You Tube.
There were definitely a lot of them made. Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce made quite a name for themselves as Holmes and Watson.